The Refugees
by Hendy853
Summary: Two angry young men wander through a strange world, searching for their place in it. Inspired by Aoi24's Our Oath, Our Path, Our Future.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own these characters, Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda do. Go read or watch their stuff if you haven't already.

This fic is inspired by _Our Oath, Our Path, Our Future_ by Aoi24

3,018 words.

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><p><em>Uchiha Sasuke was exhausted. Three days of endless combat had driven him to his limit; even standing was a difficult task. But he had to keep moving. If he stopped running the enemy would catch up to him, and he was in no shape to fight. Not anymore. <em>

_ As he ran through the forest, Sasuke couldn't stop thinking of what had happened. Madara had betrayed him. That lying bastard had just stabbed him in the back, discarded him like he was nothing! And Naruto…_

_ Naruto had beaten him._

_ It didn't make sense! Naruto was nothing, just some dead last loser dependent on the demon living within him. It shouldn't have been possible! Sasuke was an Uchiha! His eyes, his _rage _should have made him invincible!_

_But he wasn't. Naruto had beaten him. And then he still had enough strength to fight, even defeat Uchiha Madara. Then Madara had used the last of his power to send everyone around him away, the final curse of a bitter old, defeated dog._

_ But where had he sent them? _

_ They had been fighting in the ruins of the final Akatsuki base at night. The shattered remnants of the moon were continuing to shine in the dark, cloudless sky. But now… now it was day, they were in a forest filled with trees Sasuke had never seen before. The sky was filled with gray storm clouds, with no sunlight to be seen._

_ But Sasuke couldn't worry about that right now, he needed to move. He needed to get as far away from the corpses of Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Madara as he could, or that damn kid would catch up to him._

_ A few hours ago, hell, a few minutes ago Sasuke wouldn't have had to worry about the brat. But he was still weak from the last moments of his fight with Naruto; even a brat like this could take him down now, when he moved his body screamed in agony._

_ Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted as he felt a kunai pierce his shoulder, causing him to stumble. He could barely even feel the knife as it pierced his flesh or the impact of the ground as he landed face first. He was already in so much pain; a few more minor injuries were nothing._

_ Damn it! How had he caught up so quickly? Exhausted and injured as he was, Sasuke still should've been able to get away from the brat. Or at least sense him coming._

_ Sasuke could feel a light drizzle of rain begin to fall. The last Uchiha ignored the pain as he struggled to his feet, and turned to face his enemy._

_ He stood high upon a tree branch, another kunai in his hand and a look of fury in his eye. He was covered in blood and sweat, wounded and exhausted from the battle he had been fighting only a few minutes before. But compared to Sasuke's, his wounds were nothing, and Sasuke knew that Sarutobi Konohamaru would have no trouble finishing what Naruto had started. _

_ "You bastard," Konohamaru said, panting. "I'm going to kill you. You're going to pay for what you've done, for all the people you've killed!" _

_ Sasuke stared in disbelief. _He_ would pay? For what? The only people he had killed were those who had gotten in the way of his revenge. They deserved to die! He deserved revenge! _

_ For a brief moment, all of Sasuke's physical pain was gone, forgotten in the face of his rage. He screamed in anger as he leapt at Konohamaru, ripping the kunai out of his shoulder. In a moment he was up on the branch with the brat, and thrusting the kunai towards Konohamaru's heart. _

_ Konohamaru ducked beneath the clumsy stab, and responded by aiming the other kunai right at the older boy's throat. But Sasuke leapt backwards to avoiding the attack. _

_ Just as he landed on the ground, Sasuke looked up to see Konohamaru fling the kunai right at him. Sasuke quickly knocked aside the weapon with his own, and then his eyes widened as Konohamaru himself leaped through the air straight at him._

_ Too tired to dodge again, Sasuke attempted to strike with the kunai again. But Konohamaru caught Sasuke's wrist with his left hand and brought up his right in a fist._

_ The punch hit Sasuke right in the face. He managed to roll away at the last second, but it was still a solid hit. Sasuke dropped the kunai as Konohamaru followed up with another punch, this one hitting the stomach._

_ Blood flew from Sasuke's month as Konohamaru launched a barrage of punches, each managing to connect. Too exhausted to dodge again, Sasuke could offer no resistance as the genin pummeled him. He thought he could hear Konohamaru screaming something in rage, but he couldn't understand what was being said._

_ After what seemed like an eternity, the punches stopped. Sasuke was on the ground, the drizzling rain had become heavy, and the dirt beneath him was getting muddy. Sasuke tried to get up, but he couldn't move. _

_ Konohamaru suddenly appeared above him, once again holding a kunai. He held it high above his head with both hands, ready to bring it down on the last Uchiha. Sasuke looked up at the boy who was going to kill him._

_ There was a flash of light in the clouds as Sarutobi Konohamaru's kunai began to descend towards Uchiha Sasuke._

_ Thunder boomed in the distance._

Sasuke woke with a start.

As his eye opened, Sasuke was greeted by the sight of the deep blue sky. The sun was shining, birds were flying in the distance, and the only clouds in sight were miles away.

Sasuke sat up on his small raft and looked around. He could see almost nothing but deep blue, with numerous dots of small islands, barely more than dark specks in the distance. The sea was calm for the New World, peaceful even.

That wasn't good. Waters this peaceful in the New World usually meant one thing. He was in the Calm Belt. Had he drifted there by accident? If he had, then it certainly wouldn't be the first time.

Sasuke's question was answered moments later when he looked down to see a dark form rapidly rushing towards him through the water. His eye widened as he jumped off the raft, just as a sea king rose from the sea and crushed it between its jaws.

Sasuke cursed under his breath as he landed on the surface of the water, using his chakra to stand. How could he have been so careless? Getting drunk and falling asleep on the seas of the New World was bad enough, but he had also allowed himself to drift near the calm belt. Since when did he make such foolish decisions?

But Sasuke shook off those thoughts as he saw the sea king turn and charge at him. He quickly jumped away before the monster got close.

Sasuke's hand came to the hilt of his blade as the beast dove back underwater. It could come up again at any moment. Fortunately it wasn't one of the larger sea kings, so it wouldn't be too difficult to kill. After all, it was nothing more than a giant snake, and Sasuke had plenty of experience killing snakes.

The last Uchiha quickly made a series of hand seals. Once again he dodged as the sea king erupted from the water for a second time. But this time he was ready.

The air was filled with the sound of a thousand chirping birds as Sasuke activated the chidori. Sasuke leapt above the monster's head as it charged a second time. Before it could dive underwater, Sasuke extended the lighting chakra outward in the shape of a sword and swung it, severing the serpent's neck before he landed on the water again.

Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief as he was sprayed with sea water. He wasn't in the Calm Belt, this beast was too small. If it had been a real Calm Belt sea king it would have been at least five times as big.

The ninja looked at the birds in the sky. There weren't a lot of them, probably less than ten. But that was enough; Sasuke picked the one closest to him and began to follow it as it flew. Eventually it would lead him to one of the islands.

As he ran after the birds, Sasuke thought back to his dream. When he and Konohamaru arrived in this strange world along with the remains of Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Madara.

He thought about that day often enough, almost every day in fact, it was difficult not to think of the day you arrive in a world completely different from the one you grew up in. Yes, he thought about it often, but this was the first time he had dreamt of it.

And it was so vivid! It didn't feel like a dream, it felt like he had relived those moments. He felt the exhaustion, the confusion, and the pain as if it had just happened.

Especially the pain.

At least it ended just before the worst, most painful part, when that little brat had driven that kunai down and cut Sasu- _Itachi's _eye out. The left eye, the eye containing the fires of Ameterasu. He lost the power of the black flames that day, and with it, the power of Susanoo

Sasuke brought his hand up to the cloth he used to cover the empty socket as he remembered the wound. He could still feel the memento of his brother, and two of his greatest weapons being cut from head.

The rage and indignation the last Uchiha felt at that moment had been immense. It had given him the strength to push his remaining eye past his limit, activating Tsukuyomi one more time and save himself from the vengeful genin.

If only he'd been able to maintain the illusionary technique, he could've finished the brat.

Sasuke hadn't seen him since that night. Around a year ago, he suddenly realized. It had been about one year since they had come to this strange world. One year since his eye had been removed and much of his powers lost. One year since he lost everything.

Again.

_"You brought this on yourself you bastard!"_

Naruto had said that, just before winning the fight. And just before he saved Sasuke's life.

Sasuke sighed. Was Naruto right? Had all this happened because of his unwavering commitment to avenge his brother and clan?

"Damn it," he said under his breath as came closer to the distant island.

"Damn it!" Sarutobi Konohamaru swore under his breath. That was his last letter bomb! And the bastard wasn't even fazed! He just pushed it aside and kept coming, it felt like they'd been fighting for hours, and this giant bastard just wouldn't go down!

From his hiding place behind one of the trees, Konohamaru pulled out his two kunai and ran his wind chakra through them. The wind chakra extended from the blades, lengthening his weapons. Running wind chakra through ordinary kunai wasn't as effective as it would have been if he had his uncle's specially made trench knives, but it still worked, and they made his enemy bleed.

Suddenly the tree behind him splintered and a Konohamaru was forcefully shoved a dozen feet forward. He landed painfully in the dirt and struggled to his feet. This wasn't the first time he'd been shoved by this bastard's ability, but it still hurt. It felt like he was being punched by ten people at once.

Konohamaru turned to face his opponent, holding his pair of wind chakra enhanced kunai at the ready. He wouldn't run anymore. He would take this bounty head on and win!

"Enough," the Tyrant said as he came into view.

Bartholomew Kuma was a bear of man, much taller and more imposing than Konohamaru would have expected from the wanted poster. He was stronger than he had first seemed as well. At first Konohamaru could barely believe that this man had earned a two hundred and ninety six million beri bounty. But he'd been dead wrong. This man was every bit as strong as the rumors claimed.

Konohamaru let out a brief chuckle. Even after fighting in the Fourth Shinobi World War and living in a strange world for a year, the grandson of the Third Hokage still underestimated his opponents.

"You are not without talent Sarutobi," Kuma spoke. "Your strange abilities have proven effective and unpredictable. You have managed to wound and tire me, but you are far worse off."

"You think so?" Konohamaru said, panting. The young ninja was exhausted and wounded, he could keep going. He brought his fingers together in a seal, never letting go of the kunai and yelled, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Three shadow clones appeared at his side.

Kuma was silent for a moment. "Only a few minutes ago you were capable of producing up to eight doppelgangers at once, and they posed little danger to me."

"Shut up!" The Konohamarus all yelled at once. "You haven't seen everything we can do!"

The original Konohamaru flung the kunai at Kuma as two of the clones charged. Kuma simply raised his bloodied, pawed hands and deflected the small knives before aiming them at the charging clones and blasting air pressure at them. The clones once again vanished in a puff of smoke.

Konohamaru swore as he saw the clones vanish so quickly. He had been hoping they would last a little longer. With the help of the remaining clone, Konohamaru formed a swirling ball of chakra. Kuma once again looked in silence.

"Do you really think I would allow you to strike me with that?" He asked

Instead of answering his question, Konohamaru posed one of his own.

"Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to attack you head on?" Kuma's eyes briefly widened as he realized what the boy was saying. He turned around, expecting to see more doppelgangers ready to strike.

But there was no one behind him.

Konohamaru seized the opportunity, driving all his remain chakra to his legs, the young ninja surged forward, closing the distance in moments as the paw man turned around.

"WELL I REALLY AM THAT STUPID!" Konohamaru yelled as he drove the swirling ball of energy into the Bartholomew Kuma's gut. "RASENGAN!"

The swirling chakra sphere expanded as Konohamaru struck. It grew violently as it blasted Kuma backwards and off his feet. The young ninja watched the large man crash through more of the trees before the rasengan vanished, leaving Kuma in a bloody heap.

Konohamaru smirked; this would be the biggest bounty he caught, almost three hundred million beris! Over six times anything else he'd ever earned. And just in time too, he was exhausted, if the fight had gone on any longer, he doubted he could've continued.

The grandson of the Third Hokage walked over to where the kunai he had thrown landed. Kunai were in short supply on these oceans, and although he had about a dozen left, Konohamaru didn't like to lose them. They were all he had left to remember his home.

Konohamaru frowned as he picked up the second kunai. One year. It had been a year since he had been thrown to this world by that bastard Uchiha Madara, one year since he had cut out Uchiha Sasuke's eye. One year since his big bro had died… And one year since he had seen his home.

"An impressive attack," came a voice from behind Konohamaru. He whirled around to see Bartholomew Kuma once again standing before him. There was now a large bloody wound in the man's gut where the rasengan had struck. The paw man was clutching the wound, clearly in pain.

The young ninja couldn't believe it. The rasengan _always _worked! It was capable of destroying solid rock; it had even taken down one of the Pains! Kuma shouldn't have been able to stand.

Konohamaru forced himself to remain calm. Even if it didn't take him down right away, Kuma was obviously hurt. All he had to do was keep his head, he could still win.

Kuma continued to speak, "I suppose I deserve to be struck like this for falling for an obvious trick. I certainly didn't believe you would utilize such simple tactic. But it doesn't matter, this fight is over Sarutobi."

"The hell it is!" Konohamaru yelled back, holding his kunai at the ready. "I can still beat you!"

"There is no point to this fight. You attacked me with the intention of earning the bounty money offered for my capture, correct?" Konohamaru nodded. "Then you will be disappointed to learn that I recently accepted an offer to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. I no longer have a price on my head."

"Yeah right," Konohamaru said, "You're in the Revolutionary Army, and you expect me to believe that you'd accept an offer from the World Government?"

"Yes."

"Well I'm not that dumb!" Konohamaru shouted indignantly. "You're wounded! I can take you down here and now!"

"Very well," Kuma said as he stepped forward. "But before we continue, tell me something, Sarutobi Konohamaru. If you were to go on a trip, where would you want to go?"

What the hell was he talking about? What did a question like that have to do with anything? Was he just trying to distract the young ninja?

Konohamaru tensed up, not bothering to answer; he wasn't going to allow this guy to catch him off guar-

Suddenly Kuma was right in front of him. Konohamaru's eyes widened, how the hell was he moving that fast?

Even as exhausted as he was, Konohamaru still reacted quickly; thrusting his kunai right at the wound Kuma had gotten from the rasengan.

But before he could reach his target, a bloodied and cut up paw managed to touch him lightly on the side of his head.

The next thing Konohamaru knew, he was flying through the air.


	2. Chapter 2

Honestly, I've lost a lot interest in writing fanfiction, which is why this took so long, and why you're probably not going to see another chapter for a long long time... if at all.

4,630 words

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><p>Portgas D. Ace was not in a good mood.<p>

He'd been in a good mood when he fell asleep. Who wouldn't be? He was in the middle of a lively restaurant, drinking sake and eating like a king along with his loyal crew, the Spade Pirates. And for perhaps the first time in his life, Portgas D. Ace had paid for the meal.

Paying for food was a unique experience for Ace, who usually practiced the time honored, "dine and dash," technique when out to eat. He found that actually paying for food made eating it more enjoyable. Not as enjoyable as say, catching and cooking the food for yourself, but definitely more enjoyable than running away at the last moment. Not having to worry about getting away made it easier to simply enjoy the food.

- Hide quoted text -

At least, that's what Ace assumed. Usually he didn't give a second thought to payment or running away when he was in the middle of a meal. No, that last meal was the first time he'd ever actually just paid for the meal. That last meal was _not _the first time he fell asleep in the middle of the meal. It was, however, the first time he'd woken someplace other than where he had fallen asleep.

Usually, Ace just woke up exactly where he'd gone down. But this time –the first time he ever paid for a meal - he woke up from his nap sitting on a cot, in a cell, on a marine ship, wearing seastone cuffs, and being transported to prison.

Ace was convinced this was not a coincidence.

_Clearly _it was because he didn't simply dine and dash. What other explanation was there? Portgas D. Ace had fallen asleep a million times, in a million different places, and each time, he'd wake up _exactly _where he'd fallen asleep. Sometimes he would find himself with fewer possessions, but he would always at least be in the same place. But the _one time _he actually paid for a meal, he was captured by marines.

So here he was. On a marine ship, laying on scratchy, uncomfortable cot, and trapped behind bars. He was also wearing specially made, devil fruit power suppressing, unbreakable handcuffs. And the absolute _worst _part of all this was that he was still hungry.

Ace hated being hungry.

But Ace managed to push aside those thoughts as the reality of the situation hit him. _The marines had captured him. _If… if they found out about his bloodline, about who his father was, then he probably wouldn't live to see the end of the month.

"Crap." He said to himself under his breath. Ace forced himself to calm down. The Marines didn't know who he was, not really. They couldn't. Gramps had been hiding him all his life, he would've made absolutely sure nobody important realized the truth.

At that moment, someone walked into the room. It was a short man with sandy blonde hair, a smirk on his face, and a spear strapped to his back. Seeing the man's white suit and long coat, Ace realized that this was probably the captain of the ship he was on.

Fortunately, Ace had a damn good poker face. He refused to let any of the fear or anxiety he was feeling show. He forced himself to appear to be sleepy and unfocused as the marine captain observed him. He'd have to keep this unthreatening appearance up. It would be easier to escape if his opponent underestimated him.

"Got any food?" he asked innocently.

The marine's satisfied smirk grew as he heard this, and he began to chuckle. Ace watched the man chuckle lightly to himself for at least a solid minute. It was as if he had just heard the most mildly funny, but not laugh out loud hilarious, joke in the world.

"What a simple question," the marine said after he finished chuckling. "Yet it reveals so much about how you are reacting to your new situation. In simply asking for food, you show that you understand where you are, what is happening to you, and that there is no escape. You, pirate scum, have been captured by me, Captain Atherton of the Marines. And I must say it is quite refreshing for a pirate to understand his place so quickly, usually your kind refus-

Ace stopped listening. If all he was doing was gloating than he wouldn't say anything important. Behind his sleepy face Ace's mind whirled. Based on his immediate impression of the man, the captain appeared be the stereotypical rich recruit that got promoted based on family connections and the occasional bribe. It shouldn't be difficult at all to escape from someone like that.

Still, it was odd the marines would post someone like that in the New World, maybe he was underestimating Captain…. What was his name? It didn't matter. Ace decided to call him Shorty.

Ace suddenly noticed that Shorty was still talking and turned his ears back on.

"So you now see, Fire fist, that your recent decision to refuse your invitation into the Seven Warlords of the Sea has cost you de-"

Captain Shorty was suddenly interrupted by the loud growling of Ace's stomach. Ace looked down. He'd managed to ignore his hunger for the last few minutes in the immediate panic of understanding the situation. But it appeared that his ravenous need to eat wasn't done bothering him. Was he channeling Luffy tonight or what?

But Ace welcomed the feelings of hunger. For some reason, they calmed him down in a way his self-reassurances of Garp's secret keeping abilities couldn't. But also because the loud growl of his stomach had shut Captain Shorty up.

Ace looked up; the other marines were trying to react as if Ace's gut hadn't made a sound.

"Do you guys have any food? I'm hungry," Ace said with a flippant tone.

Captain Shorty stared in disbelief for a moment before continuing again, the smug smirk now replaced with a frown of annoyance.

"Well Fire fist, it would appear that I was mistaken, you are indeed like all the other pirates I have captured in the pa-"

"Yeah, whatever," Ace interrupted. "Can you speed this up? I need to eat."

Captain Shorty continued to stare for another minute. Still frowning, he opened his mouth a few more times as if he was going to speak. But he couldn't seem to get any words out. Finally he managed to compose himself, wiping away the frown and replacing it with the original smug smirk as he pulled a small object out of his coat pocket.

"Tell me Fire fist, do you know what it is I am holding?" Shorty held up a small object between two fingers. Ace looked closely and recognized it.

"It's a key." He said in a tone of voice that made him sound like he had just figured out an incredibly complex and ancient mystery of life.

"Indeed it is Fire fist" Shorty continued. "In fact, it is _your _key. The key those marvelous seastone handcuffs you have been shackled with, the key that could very well save you from imprisonment at Impel Down If you somehow managed to get a hold of it."

Well.

Ace couldn't remember the last time he'd been challenged so obviously.

The captain of the Spade Pirates narrowed his eyes on the key as Shorty placed back into his coat pocket. A plan quickly formed in Ace's head. A simple plan, but one that he was sure would work just so long as the guy kept talking. A quick use of his ears told him that the captain was in fact still talking. Did he _ever _shut up?

"What's with the spear?" He asked, once again interrupting Shorty midsentence. And once again, the captain stopped to stare for a moment, surprised at the abrupt change of subject. But before he could compose himself Ace continued talking.

"I mean, it's a nice spear and everything, but aren't you worried it could give people the wrong impression?"

Shorty continued to stare. "What are you talking about? It is a weapon. The weapon I have chosen to use and master in order to fight pirate scum like you. How could that possibly give people the wrong impression?"

"It's really long," Ace said simply, as though that explained everything.

"Of course it is you imbecile, it is a spear, and is _supposed _to be long." Shorty sighed with exasperation.

"Yeah, but people might assume you're trying to compensate for something."

"What? What would I be attempting to compensate for?" Shorty was now pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Ace suppressed a smirk, the man was completely distracted. Now all that remained was to get him mad.

"Well, I can't help but notice that you're short," Ace deadpanned.

"_Excuse me?"_

"Well, it's not like you're _ridiculously _short," Ace continued. "It's just that you're about a head shorter than everyone else." The captain merely stood there for another moment, fuming in anger. Ace could see one of the other marines suppress a snicker. "So you could be trying to compensate for your lack of reach. You're arms aren't as long as most other people's, so you use a longer weapon."

The captain appeared to calm down somewhat after hearing that. Ace's words hadn't been quite as insulting as it had initially appeared to be. At least until…

"Or hey, maybe you're actually compensating for having a tiny di-"

"SILENCE!" The captain screamed. His face had turned red with anger. He clearly wouldn't take much more of Ace's crap.

"Whoa, whoa buddy," Ace held his hands up in an appeasing gesture. "C'mon Captain Shorty, there's no reason to get that mad," He said, speaking the nickname out lout for the first time.

"Why you little-" Shorty's voice was quiet now. A furious, restrained quiet. Ace smiled, further angering his captor. Just one more push and…

"Captain, I'm not really sure you should be calling other people little."

One of the others marines let out a brief chuckle before quickly quieting himself. That, apparently, was the last straw. For the very instant he heard his subordinate's chuckle, Shorty let out a furious bark and launched his arms through the bars.

The marine captain quickly grabbed hold of Ace's shirt and pulled him right up to his face. He began yelling at him, but Ace tuned it out again as the other marines rushed to grab hold of their captain and began pulling him away from the bars. None of them noticed Ace's hand brush against the captain's coat pocket.

"You scum," Shorty spat as he regained his composure. "Your time on my vessel will not be pleasant; I can assure you of that. You will pay for this insult when we reach Eneis Lobby!" And with that, Captain Shorty left the brig, his two other marines quickly following behind him.

Ace could barely believe things had worked that well. He certainly hadn't expected the marine to get _that _angry. It was just a few simple minded insults after all. Talk about an overreaction.

But that didn't matter, the plan had worked. Ace wouldn't be going to Eneis Lobby or Impel Down. He smiled to himself as he opened his clenched fist to see the key he'd just pick pocketed off of Captain Shorty.

Ace looked to the window. It was still sunny outside. He'd have to wait until dark to escape, that way less people would see him.

Of course he could just activate his devil fruit powers and fight his way out right now. That would certainly be more exciting, and fun. But Ace decided to wait. His stomach was still growling, and if he busted out now, he wouldn't have any opportunities to steal food from the ship later on. So instead Ace just decided to lie down on his scratchy cot and wait until night.

It was almost nighttime right?

It was almost nighttime when Sasuke finally came to an island. He'd lost sight of the bird he'd been following a while ago. But he had come close enough to this island to be able to see it as more than a black speck.

As Sasuke drew closer to the small landmass, he could see that most of its shores were rocky cliffs rising high above the water. It would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible to land a ship nearby, as there was no way for an ordinary person to climb up the rocky, sea worn cliffs. But Sasuke was no ordinary person.

Running chakra through his hands and feet, Sasuke quickly worked his way up the cliff. He found it somewhat difficult to get a solid grip on the smooth, worn out surface of the cliff, unable to stay connected to any one spot for longer than a few seconds. But that wasn't too much of a problem for the renegade ninja.

Sasuke soon found himself on the top of the cliff, looking out over the island. He could see nothing but a thick forest filled with massive trees. It reminded him of the forests that had surrounded Konoha.

A frown crossed his face as he pushed thoughts of this former home from his mind. He had no desire to think of that place.

Instead he worked his way into the forest in search of food. It had been over a day since he'd eaten anything, and although he had been trained to ignore hunger, he knew he should find something to eat. Then he could rest.

The island hadn't appeared to be very large in the distance. It had looked to be maybe a few miles wide. So it wasn't very likely that there were any significantly dangerous predators there, chances were that there was more fruit than meat.

Of course, since the island was in the New World, the chances of anything making sense were slim.

Sasuke noticed that the trees alone were incredibly odd compared to most trees he'd seen in his life. Looking around as he walked through the forest, he couldn't see a single branch that ended. It seemed that all the branches instead connected the trees to each other. Almost like a giant, wooden web. A web that also managed to keep all but the thinnest rays of sunlight from creeping through its thick leaves.

Sasuke walked through the strange forest calmly and aimlessly, searching for some kind of edible animal. He couldn't find any. This island was either uninhabited, or its inhabitants were exceptionally good at hiding. He couldn't consume any plants, because he had no way of knowing which of them were safe to eat. He did notice plenty of insects, but he wasn't that desperate. Not yet at least.

And he wouldn't be that desperate for at least a few days. A trained Shinobi could last for weeks without food. It was more important that he find a source of drinkable water somewhere.

He managed to travel over a significant part of the island, probably about a fourth, when he faintly heard a roar in the distance. He stopped walking and concentrated… a few moments later he heard the sound a faint crash.

Quickly deciding that whatever was making that noise may have been a source of food, or at least be able to lead him to one, Sasuke took off in the direction of the noise, shifting into a fast run. He continued to hear louder and more frequent roars and crashes as he drew closer. His speed was impeded by the thick foliage, but the renegade ninja found no real difficulty in traversing the terrain.

The sounds increased in volume and frequency as he continued forward. Sasuke soon recognized the crashes and roars as the sounds of a battle. Most likely they were that of two large animals, fighting over food. Sasuke found that odd, as he had not seen any kind of animal on this island.

Of course, the fight could just as easily be between Devil Fruit users, in which case virtually anything was possible

Sasuke, deciding that it would be easier to take a potential opponent by surprise if he were hidden in the tree branches, leapt into the trees as he continued to move closer to the fight. As he passed through the leaves onto the branches, he found the space to be unusually clear, almost like another layer between the ground and the sky. The rouge ninja had plenty of room to move freely and quickly.

Before long, Sasuke found himself close enough to peer through the leaves and see the combatants. One was a man who appeared to be wearing a strange kind of light, skin colored armor underneath ragged clothing. It covered nearly all his body, except for a small open space near the center of his face, presumably an air hole.

Standing back to back with to him was an athletic young woman with long blonde hair. Sasuke couldn't see her face, but she appeared to close to his own age. In her hands were two curved sabers. A type sword Sasuke had become more and more acquainted with in the last year.

Surrounding the two was a pack of six giant apes, each at least seven feet tall and covered in black fur. They had surrounded the two young fighters and were keeping their distance just outside of attack range, baring their fangs menacingly.

As looked on, Sasuke noticed each of the apes shifting their eyes very slightly, without their opponents noticing, towards him.

Sasuke's eye widened as he realized that _they had seen him. _A pack of wild apes had noticed him, a highly skilled Shinobi well versed in the art of staying hidden, just as he had shown up.

This wasn't just an ordinary pack of stupid animals.

When he had trained under Orochimaru, Sasuke had learned to hide himself from virtually anything, including animals, even with all their heightened senses. And these apes had noticed him almost _immediately. _ And they had made no move to indicate their collective observation to their visible opponents.

Sasuke suddenly realized why this island was uninhabited by humans. These apes were dangerous and intelligent. If they were as strong and smart as they appeared to be, then they'd be able to repulse the vast majority of intruders who came to this island, especially if there were more than just these six.

Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted as one of them let out a vicious roar. The two humans turned to look at him just as the ape on the opposite charged forward without a sound.

It reached the two humans within moments and raised its arm to strike in a sweeping motion that would hit both of them. But before it landed, the young woman suddenly turned her head, seeing the attack just in time to duck beneath the arm. The man wasn't as fast.

The ape struck the man right across the back, knocking him into the ground face first. Before the ape could retreat from its attack the woman came up from her crouching position, swinging one of her swords at it. She managed to land a long, shallow cut across its chest before following it up with a strike from her other sword, cutting across its furless stomach.

The ape barely reacted to the shallow cuts, instead opting to raise its other hand in a fist and bring it straight towards the woman's now exposed back. But instead of smashing the girl's bones with the force of its fist, the ape hit empty air as she deftly managed to crouch beneath its strike yet again. The young woman immediately took advantage of the new opening, choosing to strike at the ape's now exposed side, and landing two new and much deeper cuts.

The ape reacted this time, quickly reaching to cradle its new scars with its right arm, accidently leaving its stomach vulnerable to the man's attack.

Unlike his companion, the man didn't carry any weapons, so he instead brought his own armored fist to bear against the ape's stomach. The punch successfully landed and the ape cried and crouched over in sudden and surprised pain, leaving its face open to a follow up attack from the man's other fist.

As the second punch landed, Sasuke saw the girl raise her swords to attack once again. But before she could, one of the other apes came up from behind her and attempted to hit her from behind. Fortunately, she once again noticed the surprise attack and jumped to the side, rolling as she hit the ground. Unfortunately, there was another ape waiting for her as she stood upright once again, swinging its arm in a sweeping motion much like its comrade had done.

Once again the girl was fast enough to dodge the attack, jumping out of the way and bringing herself to face her opponents. Two of the apes stood before her, much like they had been doing earlier, staring at her menacingly even as she brandished her swords to get them to keep their distance.

Sasuke looked over to see the man continue to rain his fists upon his opponent even as another of the apes rushed at him from behind. Again the man failed to dodge as the ape punched him right in the back of the head.

He once again fell face forward to the ground as both of his opponents began to rain punches down upon him. Instead of trying to get out of the way or get them off of him, the man simply rolled himself into the fetal position. Sasuke watched as his strange armor began to shift and meld into a more rotund shape, appearing almost like an armadillo's shell. Clearly it wasn't ordinary armor.

Sasuke looked back to the girl. She still hadn't engaged her two opponents. But she was in a dangerous position, as both of them were standing on opposite sides of her, even as she placed her back up against a tree. They'd probably strike soon, and if they did so at the same time, she'd be hard pressed to avoid both of their attacks.

But Sasuke was distracted from the other fighters as the fifth ape picked up a large stone in its fist and flung it in his direction.

Sasuke didn't move as the stone passed through the branches nearly six feet to his right. Apparently the apes hadn't pinpointed his location as precisely as he had originally suspected. Sasuke didn't even flinch when the ape threw another stone, this time missing by an even wider margin.

The apes' true strength, the rogue ninja decided, wasn't their intelligence. Nor was it their physical prowess. While each and every one of them was a formidable fighter, none of them were anything particularly special. Sasuke had no doubt that if any of the apes had fought either of their opponents one on one, the humans would win. Every time.

No, their _true_ strength, he thought as another stone was flung even further away from him in the trees, was their ability to work together. They were coordinating with each other on an instinctual level. Every move they had made so far had served to distract their enemies from their numbers just so another one of them could launch a surprise attack

The first one had distracted them long enough for the second to attack from behind and separate them. The third one was waiting to strike the girl after the second one failed to hit her. The fourth one had come up behind the man even as he continued to fight the first. The fifth used the distraction caused by the first four to attack their third, unknown opponent. And the sixth one was trying to use thatas a distraction to sneak up upon their third opponent from behind.

The key word there, Sasuke idly noted as he moved his hands into a series of seals, was that it was _trying_ to sneak up on him.

It was almost successful too. The ape had moved quickly and quietly enough to completely hid itself from any ordinary person.

But Sasuke was no ordinary person.

The ape remained silent as it raised its fist and struck at Sasuke. But the ninja quickly leapt out from under the massive fist, landing on another of the web like branches as the ape shattered the ones he had just been standing on. Revealing what appeared to be a stream of water flowing through the branches.

This was apparently enough to stop the ape from being silent, as it then let out a vicious roar and charged at Sasuke. But the last Uchiha was prepared. As the ape rushed forward, he raised his hand around his mouth and mentally called out: _Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!_

The ape screamed in pain as it was suddenly engulfed in a great fireball that had erupted straight from Sasuke's mouth. It quickly lost its balance and fell through the branches, shattering another few and revealing even more water.

The ape continued to scream as its allies and opponents on the ground looked over in surprise. Sasuke, still in branches looked over the others to see that the man had managed to work his way off the ground and knock back one of his opponents. While the girl had apparently managed to keep her attackers at bay, small drops of blood fell from their arms every time they moved.

But Sasuke was once again distracted as the ape that had been throwing stones at him suddenly launched itself into the air directly at him and closed the distance between them within seconds, immediately letting out a flurry of giant fists.

Sasuke dodged them all without difficulty as he gripped the hilt of his blade. He remained close to the ape as it continuously tried and failed to hit him. Jumping all over the branches, crouching under the sweeping strikes, and swiftly avoiding all attacks before he whipped out his sword and struck the ape in its right eye.

Sasuke knew exactly how devastatingly painful and distracting it was to get cut in the eye.

The ape howled in pain as it clutched its now bloody eye socket, and Sasuke took the opportunity to leap forward and kick it right in the throat.

The ape's pained screams were instantly reduced to strangled chocking sounds as it fell backwards through the branches. It landed on its back on the forest floor even as Sasuke himself leapt downward and landed smoothly on his feet, again noting the water falling from the broken branches.

The ape he'd burned had managed to recover. Large groups of smoldering embers still remained in its fur, but it stood facing Sasuke, and the rogue ninja could see it quivering in what could only be rage. The other ape he'd successfully hit managed to recover as well, though its rage was far less contained.

They slowly began to circle Sasuke; much like their comrades had done earlier with the girl. But Sasuke had no intention of allowing himself to be surrounded. Nor did he have any intention of dragging the fight out any longer than it already was.

Sasuke closed his eye, and felt a rush of chakra flow into it. When he opened it once again, it had changed from its ordinary dark coloring to the blood red of the Sharingan.

The apes didn't stand a chance.


End file.
